Where does “desu” come from?
desu (English) comes from Japanese です, from Japanese である, from Japanese で, from Japanese ぜ, from Japanese ぞえ, from Japanese え, from Middle Chinese 衣.
desu (English): 2002 March 20, Mahoronyan , “Re: I was wrong...
Definitions
- 2002 March 20, Mahoronyan , “Re: I was wrong...
Ancestry of “desu”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Japanese | です | Polite form of だ , after uninflecting parts of... |
| 2 | Japanese | である | To be: the copula, with the same function as だ ... |
| 3 | Japanese | で | at; with, by, using; indicating the following... |
| 4 | Japanese | ぜ | sentence-ending particle signifying emphasis,... |
| 5 | Japanese | ぞえ | — |
| 6 | Japanese | え | Alternative form of い |
| 7 | Middle Chinese | 衣 | — |